Film

The Man from Toronto

Name: The Man from Toronto
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Released: 2022
Cast: Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson, Kaley Cuoco, Jasmine Mathews, Lela Loren

Action

A mistaken-identity action-comedy where Kevin Hart's anxious entrepreneur gets tangled up with Woody Harrelson's deadpan hitman. It's a vehicle for Hart's hyperkinetic energy bouncing off Harrelson's dry wit, pitched at people who want jokes, stunts, and banter without anything too demanding. Lightweight but competent fun.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a buddy comedy where the jokes come from mismatched personalities colliding, with Woody Harrelson's deadpan menace playing off Kevin Hart's frantic energy, and a slapdash action set piece now and then.

Skip it if you find Kevin Hart's manic, shouty style wearing thin, or you want action with real stakes rather than comedy that treats violence as a running gag.

What it asks of you: It runs about 113 minutes and moves at a brisk, chatty clip, staying light and silly throughout, so it needs little more than your willingness to laugh along.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Central Intelligence2016

Hart and Dwayne Johnson spark off each other with genuine chemistry, trading insults while solving a spy thriller. It's the same formula—comedic everyman paired with a larger action presence—and it works because both actors commit fully to the dynamic.

But The plot is thin and forgettable, existing mainly as scaffolding for set pieces and one-liners. If you need story substance, you'll be disappointed.

Ride Along2014

Hart plays a cop-obsessed civilian riding shotgun with Ice Cube's weary detective through Atlanta. It has that same clash of high-energy nerves versus cool competence, and the chemistry between them drives everything.

But It's formulaic buddy-cop comedy that doesn't attempt surprises. The action feels obligatory, and the script rarely ventures beyond sitcom setups.

Bullet Train2022

Brad Pitt anchors a stylish, witty action film where multiple assassins collide on a train. The dialogue is sharp, the violence is kinetic, and it captures that high-stakes-meets-comedy energy without relying on a single comedic lead.

But It's visually busy and tonally uneven—sometimes asking you to care about plot, sometimes undercutting its own drama with jokes. Some find it exhausting rather than entertaining.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Man from Toronto

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Both pair a motormouth protagonist with a harder, more competent partner through a web of mistaken identity, but this one is a legitimately clever thriller hiding inside its comedy.

Robert Downey Jr. narrates a noir-comedy about a method actor mistaken for a criminal in LA. It's the ancestor of this kind of thing—a film that understands how to make smart action-comedy by being genuinely smart about the comedy, not settling for Kevin Hart doing Kevin Hart.

But It's verbally dense and requires attention. If you're watching for spectacle alone, the talky passages will lose you.

Red Notice2021

Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Dwayne Johnson in a globe-trotting heist-action film that prioritizes charm and banter over sense. It's designed for exactly the audience that enjoyed The Man from Toronto.

But The plot is aggressively inconsequential, and the movie knows it. If you want actual stakes or consequences, this isn't for you.

Tropic Thunder2008

An action-comedy where the joke is partly the action itself—incompetent people pretending to be action heroes, with Robert Downey Jr. stealing everything. The satire is sharper and the ensemble more talented than typical fare in this wheelhouse.

But It's crude and dated in places. Some of the humor has aged poorly, and it demands you find the absurdity funny rather than the situation relatable.

The Nice Guys2016

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as mismatched investigators in 1970s LA, sparring constantly. It's fundamentally about two people who don't work together having to anyway, with genuine warmth beneath the bickering.

But It's a proper noir underneath the comedy—the plot is complicated and the ending is deliberately unsatisfying. It wants you to care about story, not just laughs.

Jungle Cruise2021

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt navigate a tropical adventure with steady charm and chemistry. It's adventure-comedy that knows what it is: pure spectacle and flirtation, with a script that trusts its leads.

But The plot is Disney-formula boilerplate, and the action sequences feel like theme park attractions. There's nothing here but the movie itself.

Get Hard2015

Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart in a comedy about a rich guy preparing for prison by hiring his Black gardener to train him. It's Hart in his element—rapid-fire, physical, unafraid to be the chaos agent.

But It's raunchy and sometimes tasteless in ways that don't quite land. The premise risks being meaner than it actually is.

My Spy2020

Dave Bautista and a precocious child find unexpected warmth in a CIA action-comedy. If you're looking for The Man from Toronto's DNA—oddly matched partners, physical comedy, genuine goodwill—this delivers in a compact package.

But It's slight and anonymous. Once you've watched it, there's almost nothing there to think about afterward.

Slow Horses2022

Both feature an unlikely partnership between an authority figure and someone beneath him, but this replaces easy laughs with actual tension and mystery—what happens when you ask for real storytelling.

Gary Oldman leads a six-part spy thriller about MI5 agents exiled to a basement office, solving a political kidnapping. It's taut, genuinely funny, and proves you can have both wit and stakes without sacrificing either one.

But It's patient and British in its pacing. If you need constant movement and noise, it will feel slow regardless of the title.

Righteous Kill2008

Both films hang their story on the partnership between two men with radically different temperaments, but this one treats that dynamic as the actual subject, not the vehicle for comedic bits.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, veteran detectives hunting a serial killer in New York, their partnership weathered by decades of work. It's character-driven genre cinema where the relationship between two men *is* the plot, not decoration around it.

But It's aggressively '80s in tone and visual style, slow-moving by modern standards, and the twist is not kind to repeat viewing. It's a film for a specific mood, not entertainment on demand.